St. Landry democrat., 1887-09-24
TEE ADMINISTRATION DODGE
IN ST. LANDRY.
Picayune.

Landry the committee of which Dr.. r.
! H, Iittell is President. The rival or
| contesting committee, of which Judge
| f. D. Estilette is President, has refused
! to accept that decision as final, and ia
preparing to renew in the Congres-
| sional Convention the fight which it
| lost in the Congressional Committee.
The Estllette Committee is what is
| technically known as trump" COM
mittee. The basis Of its claim to regu-
larity is the fact that four Of it's mem
bers were members of the old Execu~
tive Committee of the parish. But the
| old committee is defunct, and a maio,1-
ty OF ITS members hare repudiated in
'rF1ttng the pletense that IT is still alive
and authoritative. The Estllette Com
mittee has, therefore, no representative
status but it is endeavorins by the use
of extraordinary and undemocratic
means to make out case which may
have some appearance of plausibility
when it is brought TO the attention of
the Congressional Convention of the
Sixth District. 1t is highly important
to the administrationists to secure some
recognition IN that convention for their
faction in st. Landry in order to pre-
pare the way for its subsequent recogni-
ton in the Democratic State Conven-
ton. The Congressional nomination is
ia itself of comparatively small mo-
ment to them but they are resolved to
go to any length to have the validity Of
the Estilette Committee recognized.
In the interest, therefore, Of fair play
and of popular government we submit
d statement of facts which dscloses the
true situation in st. Landry.
The regular Democratic Parish Exc
~ an NJ snI hr
Littell is President, met in Opelousas
on the eth OF August, 1887, and pro-
ceeded, regularly and exactly in ac-
cordance with the invariable custom in
the parish, to order ward elections for
a parish convention, in order that the
latter body might choose delegates to
the Congressional Convention. Every
thing was done which was necessary to
secure directly from the Democrats of
the entire parish and by their appoint
ment q delegation which should repre-
rent them in the District Convention.
The proceedings were Immediately pub
lished, and printed posters giving
notice of the call were sent to every
ward in the parish. The names of all
the members of the committee who
we're present were also published, in
order that the people mi ght know that
this action was taken by a duly autho-
riZed quorum. The cOmmittee--antici-
pating that the Estiette faction with
view to avoiding the criticism TO which
it had before subjected itself, and to
make more decent showing before the
District Convention,) would call ward
elections for delegates to Parish Con-
yenti0D, taking care not to select the
same day as that fixed for ward cleo
tons by the regular committee, for
fear of being defeated in fair trial of
popular streDgth-Rave authority to
President r. H. LitteIl to change the
date of the ward elections if he should
think it proper to do so. The iDtep-
ton was to change the date to what
ever time the Estilette Committee
might select in order that it might be
clearly decided at the polls which of the
two factions was in the majority.
The Estilette Committee met on the
9th of Septembe 1887, twelve days af-
ter the meeting of the regular commit
tee. 1t met at the law office of EST.
published proceedings as the "Ruoms
of the Democratic Executive Commit
tee" The names of the members
present were not published but the re-
port stated that every ward was repre-
sented, though Messrs. Richard and Ro.
bin of the Leonville ward, and Mr..
Andrus of the Graud Coteau ward were
the only persons present in the town
on that day from any other than the
First Ward. The proceedings were
conducted in absolute secrecy, and were
kept secret until published eight days
later in the Opelousas Courier Then, |
for the first time, the plan of the adj |
ministrationists became apparent. |
Their committee had authorized Judge !
Estilette, its President, to fix the time |
and places for the primaries for the |
election of delegates to Parish Con- !
vention. 1t also authorized bin, should |
be think proper, in lieu of primaries |
and convention, to call a mass meeting /
of the Democrats of this (St. Landry |
designate, for the purpose of selecting |
delegates to the Democratic Congress
sional Convention. This was done on !
the Sth inst, and on the 10th called a |
mass meeting for the purpose above
designated, to assemble at Grand Co.
teau Railroad depot on Saturday, the |
oath of September.
The administratiOnists had evidently /
discovered the purpose of the regular |
to force them to trial of
at the primaries, and, there
fore, they decided not to hold primaries,
but to call a mass meeting. 1t should
be observed, in the first place, that they
advertised their scheme as little as pos
sible. The Estilette Committee met on
the 9Th inst, and the mass meeting was
ordered on the 10th; but the order was
not made public until the 10th. In the
next place, instead of selecting Opelou-
sas, the county seat, where heretofore
all parochial political assent lages have
been held, or Washington, a large
town, both near the center
of the population and the territory of
the parish, they selected Grand Coteau
Station. an obscure point ,vithin t,co miles
of the southern boundary line of the par
ish, at which there has never been any
kind of public meeting of the people,
which is farthest removed from the
strong Democratic wards, and which is
surrounded by p0pula-
ton supposed to be under the personal
influence of the administration leaders.
The result is easily foreseen. The
regular organization will not abandon
the time-hon0red plan of holding ward
elections to enter into contest at such
a time and place at meeting called by
q committee, which has already been